One of the most recognizable and integral part to that small town charm and sense of community is the downtown area. Lined with wonderful restaurants, chic shops, and a few “old school” beach bars, it’s a great place to be whether day or night.

The downtown area is focused on the few blocks surrounding Manhattan Beach Blvd and as the primary street faces west and sits on a hill (technically a sand dune) it offers incredible views of the pier and ocean and enjoys a great ocean breeze that cools on even the hottest days. Although it can get pretty overcrowded during the summer, as Manhattan is certainly a tourist destination, there is still enough room as most of the visitors eventually end up on the beautiful beaches just to the west of the downtown area.

Other parts of town such as El Porto (now known as North Manhattan) also offer a nice beach town feel, the downtown area certainly is the heart and soul of this charming beach community.

One of the more popular areas in Manhattan Beach is the tree section. It has a great community feel, sits west of Sepulveda (meaning it’s closer to the beach and no major streets need to be crossed to get there), offers some of the best schools in the state and larger homes than in the sand section.

So why is it called the tree section you ask? It must be all of those trees…..

While there are more trees in the tree section than in other parts of Manhattan Beach, that’s not why the area has this unique name. The name is actually derived from the street names. Streets such as Walnut, Pine, Oak, Palm and Elm make up the bulk of the streets that travel north and south.

In general the hill section and south sand section neighborhoods attend Robinson Elementary, the north sand section and parts of the tree section attend Grand View, the eastern half of the tree section attends Pacific, the Manhattan Heights and Liberty Village areas (east of Sepulveda and north of MB Blvd) attend Meadows and the Mira Costa area of East Manhattan attend Pennekamp. All are fantastic schools with incredible test scores and parent participation is second to none.

Without question, Manhattan Beach is a “hot” real estate market. As if the number of homes selling over list price with multiple offers doesn’t pose enough of a challenge to entry level buyers, the competition with builders and developers makes it all but impossible. Whenever the market heats up to this extent it seems that every builder, investor and developer wants a piece of the action. Whether it’s flipping a larger but older home, or knocking down the original bungalow to build an estate property, the potential profits are just too enticing for builders…..and that all but eliminates the opportunities for entry level buyers.

These builders are looking for just about any well priced home or piece of property and many get sold before they’ve even gone on the market. The problem is that what these builders consider “tear downs” are the very same homes that many buyers would consider starter homes…and their entry into this high demand community. What might be an affordable original 3 bedroom, 1200 foot home built in the 1940s priced in the low $900s, gets knocked down, quickly developed and soon comes to market as a $3.0M+ mansion. Unfortunately buyers looking to get into this neighborhood are often young professionals or young families interested in the award winning schools, but are priced right out of the market.

128 14th Street – 2012 Sold April 2012 for $1,950,000

128 14th Street – Currently listed at $6,399,000

221 23rd Street sold at 1,013,000 in 2012

221 23rd – Listed for $2,999,000 2014

This isn’t the first time that this has been the struggle and it won’t be the last. Buyers either need to be very patient and wait for these dramatic price increases (and almost instantaneous profits for builders) to ease up, or be willing to overspend a bit to compete with the builders when the home actually does make it to market.

For sellers the time is most certainly right, but they need to be cautious as more often than not they could likely get more money by listing the home and putting it on the open market than selling to a builder without any competition.

Many out of area and out of state buyers come to me looking for a nice gated community in the South Bay and Manhattan Beach. Unlike many other areas, gated communities are few and far between in the Beach Cities and there’s really only one option in the luxury community of Manhattan. Manhattan Village is the areas only real option with a combination of Estate Homes (SFRs), townhomes and court homes (clusters of townhome style units). Ideally located just a short drive to the beach, Manhattan Village sits east of Sepulveda just north or Marine Ave.

Manhattan Village is a planned community and is the only gated community in Manhattan Beach. An exclusive retreat which provides a lifestyle many are surprised to discover in a beach community. The community consists of approximately 400 town and court homes and 122 estate homes. See our Manhattan Village Floorplans and Manhattan Village Mappage. The village is landscaped in a park setting surrounded by trees, pools, spas, playgrounds, bike paths and a soccer field. The location in Manhattan Beach is ideal. Manhattan Village Mall is within walking distance, with Ralphs, CVS, Macys, fine restaurants, entertainment, the Manhattan Tennis Club as well as a number of fine hotels.

Manhattan Village has two primary security gates, one for the estate home owners and another for the townhomes and court homes. The main gate is manned and access to the community is tightly regulated adding a level of safety on top of the already safe neighborhoods of Manhattan Beach in general.

One of the more challenging aspects of selling homes in the luxury community of Manhattan Beach, is the “sticker shock” many out of town buyers have when we first start searching for a home. As one of the more expensive markets in the country, buyers are often unprepared for the type, size or condition of the home that they can get for their money. Buyers inevitably compare the home they are selling to the home they are buying and without taking location into consideration, they find that they can often purchase something not even similar to what they’re selling. The greatest surprise comes to buyers from states such as Texas in which they owned a 5000 foot mansion on acres of land for example and the $1.5M that they sold it for translates to a 3 bedroom, 2200 foot townhome in Manhattan Beach with a lot measured in feet and not acres.

The reason for all of this, of course, is that it’s all about location….and the demand for that location. There is such demand for homes in Manhattan Beach which offers great neighborhoods, ocean views, award winning schools, almost perfect weather, proximity to a world class destination beach, and near enough but far enough from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, that prices just continue to rise at an often incredible pace. As there is no additional land to build on, even “fixers” or tear downs sell above market value as builders are eager to cash in on the demand for new construction luxury homes.

So what can an out of state buyer do? Research the recent home sales in Manhattan Beach and current listings. Getting comfortable with the fact that, although the prices are dramatically higher than other cities and states, these are the prices and the costs to live in such a high demand area. Southern California has always been one of the most sought after housing destinations in the country and nowhere is that demand greater than life on the coast in Manhattan Beach. Buyers that research values, prices and trends, may still have that initial shock but just having an understanding that these are not “inflated” prices but just the values of the area and down the road when it’s time to sell, they’ll be on the other side of this incredibly strong market.

The chart below represents the median sales prices in Manhattan Beach for the past 2 years with a median price edging ever closer to the $2.0M mark.

Good schools are the cornerstone of good communities, and nowhere is that more true than in the Beach Cities and South Bay. One of the most common reasons I hear for buyers wanting specifically to be in Manhattan Beach is for their kids to be part of this nationally ranked award winning school system. Manhattan Beach schools have ranked as one of the top districts in the country. While any test scores in the 900 is a tremendous accomplishment, Manhattan Schools generally far exceed those numbers on a regular basis.

With many home buyers searching for specific school districts, and sometimes even specific schools, the list below should provide assistance as to how they rate and compare with one another. Contact us to determine what neighborhoods attend what schools.

We are proud to once again be a community partner with our local schools and sponsor of the upcoming Hearts of Hermosa. It is a fantastic event attended by seemingly every parent in the school system and proceeds benefit the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation. For more information visit the HBEF website.

We will once again be at our private venue at the community center. There will be no mobile bidding this year so be ready to bid old school style with pen and paper!

We will once again have four bars this year. Pamilla will be serving tequila cocktails, Uncorked will be serving wine and champagne, Hot’s Kitchen will have a selection of craft beers and Hermosa Saloon will have premium cocktails.